You are stronger without god

If you were once religious then I am sure that you used to pray and ask for god's guidance and help when it came to facing sth serious or hard ... like taking an exam or finding a job and so on.You used to relate all your success and failures to god and you always found an explanation or excuse for god when you didn't make it ... maybe most of us became atheists and refrained religion because of this , because our lives were meaningless... as if we had no power or will in taking decisions .We were lazy and we didn't finish our work because we believed that god would be there and finish the work for us .

Now , as an atheist , you are facing life and problems with a diffrent perspective . You are stronger without god because you know that no one up there is going to help you , so you perfect and finish what you do . When you talk , you are more decisive and stronger and when you act you wait for results. When you fail , you try to find an explanation , but this time you find a reasonable one and you know where the problem really lies .

I have more self confidence. My self esteem is higher because I'm responsible for me and it feels good. When I do get low self esteem it is related to stress (as usual) not because I don't have a religion or believe in the existence of a god. I read more nonfiction. I pay attention to what is really going on around me. I'm more insightful. I wish I can say I'm more pleasant around people but living in the bible belt i can not say that. These religious nuts get on my last friggin nerves. I went to Gold's gym this morning and on the TV was christian show. Almost screwed up my workout mojo. Went to Starbucks and there was a group talking about their Jesus. Almost screwed up my Americano. So personality wise. I have to fake it (tolerate). But its all good because hey, I have high self esteem.

I am really happy for you ; it's really good to realize that self esteem got nothig to do with religion . I remeber being told that those who don't abide by the teachings of religion are unhappy and misrable !! Now I know that religious people are the most miserables . Sometimes I laugh at their backs '' I know it'ss mean but I can't stop it' .

humans will exprience periods of stress wethere theyr religious or not . I think that what made man to invent religion is stress , among other ''unexplicable'' things .

Don't bother about religious people , if they are not willig to understand then leave them and enjoy your life . That's what I do ;I don't care about them and haven't even told anyone that I am atheist .

First, it made me a more responsible person. The idea of not having anyone to "forgive" me except myself, made me more aware of the fact that my actions and possibly their effects are irreversible. The moral standards shifted focus from "what god would approve" to "what I would be proud to do".

Second, I now keep my perspective, kind-of analogous to keeping my eye on the road when driving. I don't waste time or energy thinking about how/whether god is going to help me, or asking for that help. In any situation I take inventory of all the resources I have, take stock of the situation for what it is, and logically decide on the best course of action.

Third, I can deal with failure much better. When I did believe in karma, failure indirectly indicated that I somehow deserved that failure, so there's something wrong in me. Now, I know karma is just wishful thinking, and it is all about survival of the fittest. So when I fail, I just get back up and think about what to do next, instead of pondering over the failure itself and feeling bad about it.

Yes, a god-less mind is much stronger than one filled with vain beliefs.

Thanks Shanker for your elaborate reply ; actually you expressed the idea I wanted to deliver in a very elegant way. I like what you said about failure/punishment . Personally I suffred a lot not because of failure but of considering it as a punishment for something ''wrong'' I had done . Thank you again for sharing.

I agree with you partially, but I do not think that a religious person is necessarily a weak person; rather, they have a weakness. I say this not to refute your point but to mention that people can be strong, good, intelligent human beings even if they are religious. Religion, I think, is not a source of weakness, but like you said a sign of it. If someone is using a crutch, even if the crutch is in both senses of the term "mental", it indicates that the person is hurting, and they need a "spiritual" healing. Unfortunately, its hard to heal people who refuse to face their own pain

When I was a Christian I remember using God to help guide me and give me strength to do things that I originally did not have the confidence to do. In a way, God really helped me accomplish things I thought were difficult, but in retrospect, my lack of self confidence may have been inextricably linked to God in the first place. I became an atheist not because i didnt want to believe in God, but because I could not rationalize his existence, especially one so arbitrary. It was extremely depressing at first, and Ive had panic attacks linked to a fear of going to hell and living in an eternal nightmare. But I got over it simply by thinking through the fear. It was real hard at first, but once I transfered the faith I had in God to myself entirely, I felt flooded with clarity. Now there is a sense of freedom in that I have more control over my life, and that Im not being constantly watched by a demiurge with megalomania. It feels right.
thanks for creating this discussion, it is so true

when you said '' flooded with clarity'' , you remainded of myself when I first knew I became atheist ... that clarity came with some kind of relief I had never experienced when I was religious ... it was like getting rid of a heavy burden ...

The problem with religion is that it makes you believe that without religion you can never enjoy a peaceful anf stressless life while the truth is that religion is the source of all troubles .